


The Kraken

by geekkitty (braezenkitty)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cas and Dean are on a boat, Cruise Ships, First Kiss, I'm Sorry, Jealous Dean Winchester, M/M, No Tentacle Sex, Protective Castiel, Tentacles, actually it's a ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-05-01 23:35:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5225486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/braezenkitty/pseuds/geekkitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam finds a case, and Cas and Dean embark upon what they believe to be a haunted cruise ship. But the real monster turns out to be something completely different.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Kraken

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Destiel ficlet challenge; prompt: Kraken. I don’t know why, but this prompt turned out to be really difficult for me to write about. I started and restarted this story half a dozen times over the last couple of weeks, and I’m still not totally happy with the way it turned out, but here it is. Hopefully someone out there will enjoy it :) Constructive feedback is appreciated!

“People disappearing off a cruise ship?” Dean looked up from the news article Sam had pulled up on his laptop and raised an eyebrow at him. ”Are we sure they’re not just getting drunk and falling overboard? I mean cruises are known for being a pretty boozy vacation.”

“I suppose that’s possible,” Sam shrugged, leaning back in his chair and clasping his hands behind his head. “Cruise ship railings are intentionally built pretty high though, specifically to prevent people from accidentally falling over. And besides, some of the victims didn’t drink at all.”

“Ok, how do we know there’s not a serial killer on the crew then?”

“Well, again, possible. But forensics teams have scoured every inch of the ship and found no evidence of any foul play occurring on board. It’s like these people just vanished into thin air.”

“Huh.” Dean took a sip of his coffee, letting his mind wander over the details of the case. He wasn’t exactly convinced this was their type of thing, but seven missing people from three different cruises; the same ship taking the same route each time, did seem strange. And it’s not like they had anything better to do now that Amara was in the wind and Metatron had been located and determined to be a non-threat for the moment. They were pretty much just waiting for something to happen before they could make their next move. Might as well keep busy with a case in the meantime.

“So you think they’re what, being compelled to jump overboard by something? Pissed off ghost? Demon throwing meat suits over the rail then smoking out for funzies? Maybe a witch cursing people or sicking some kind of sea monster on them?”

“I don’t know, but something doesn’t seem right.” Sam sat up straight and pulled his laptop back across the table, typing in some new search query. “I’ll see what else I can dig up.”

“You do that.” Dean picked up his nearly empty mug and swallowed the last of his coffee. “You need a refill?” he gestured at the mug Sam had left sitting untouched on the table.

“Nah, I’m good.”

Dean pushed his chair back from the table and stood, leaving the library and heading toward the kitchen. It occurred to him, not for the first time that morning, even though he hadn’t been awake long, that he hadn’t seen Castiel yet. Must’ve gotten sucked into another marathon Netflix session. If Cas wasn’t up and moving by the time Dean finished his next cup of coffee, Dean would just have to go in there and drag the angel away from the tv. A little bit of binging was fine, necessary even, at least occasionally, but this was verging into unhealthy territory.

As Dean was pouring his coffee, he heard a gruff voice saying good morning to Sam in the library. Automatically, he got another mug down and filled it, then added a good amount of cream and sugar until it was a light brown color. He took both mugs back to the library, smirking at the back of the messy head of dark hair that was currently bent over to peer at Sam’s laptop.

“Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to join the land of the living,” Dean said, setting the extra coffee mug down in front of Cas. “Cream and sugar with a splash of coffee, just the way you like it.”

“Thank you, Dean,” Cas said, looking up and giving Dean a small smile.

Dean had to suppress a sudden urge to ruffle Cas’ already messy bed hair. Instead, he looked intently into his own coffee mug and took a sip, burning his mouth. “So uh, Sam tell you about his cruise ship case?”

Dean walked around to the other side of the table and sat down, setting his coffee down and pushing the button to power up his laptop. He was studiously ignoring the half smirk and raised eyebrows Sam was giving him.

“Yes, it does seem like it might be worth looking into,” Cas said, cupping his coffee mug in both hands and bringing it up to inhale the steam rising off of it. Sam had gone back to scrolling through whatever database he was currently mining for information.

“Find anything else, Sammy?”

“Yeah, actually. So get this—about 10 years ago, there was a murder suicide on this ship. A married couple, Keith and Sylvia Tanner, got into a fight—the husband caught the wife talking to the ship’s activities director, thought the two looked a bit too flirtatious. He ended up pushing his wife overboard that night, then climbed up on the rail and followed her. Neither of them survived, but their bodies were recovered and buried near their hometown just outside of Dallas, Texas.”

“Well, maybe this is our kinda case after all,” Dean said, blowing on his coffee before taking another sip. “Looks like it,” Sam replied, looking up from his laptop to glance at Cas. “Ever been on a cruise Cas?”

“No,” Cas looked at Sam with furrowed brows and tilted his head, “why would an angel go on a cruise?”

* * *

 

A week later, Sam was dropping Dean and Cas off at the port in Florida.

“You better take care of my Baby, Sam, don’t go douching her up again.” Dean didn’t like the idea of leaving the Impala with Sam and getting on a ship for the next week, but somebody had to stay behind and do the salt and burn job if necessary.

Sam had convinced Dean to take Cas with him on the cruise to help with investigating the ship, and getting them out of trouble if Dean couldn’t handle things on his own. Not that he was worried he couldn’t handle a couple of ghosts. But Sam had a point about Cas needing to get out of the bunker and away from the siren song of Netflix.

“Don’t worry, I won’t install another ipod jack.” Sam grinned and pulled him in for a quick hug, then turned to hug Cas. “You guys be careful, and try to have some fun. I’m heading straight for the Tanners’ graves in Texas, so I can probably have them salted and burned tonight or early tomorrow. As long as that takes care of things, that’ll give you guys almost a full week of vacation time to enjoy.”

“Stuck on a ship in the middle of the ocean, awesome.” Dean was not looking forward to being on the ship any longer than they had to be, especially with Amara still on the loose and no idea what she was up to.

“Sorry, Dean,” Cas said, looking around and watching the rest of the passengers boarding, “if my grace hadn’t been so damaged I could get us back home as soon as we made sure these ghosts were taken care of.”

“Hey,” Dean grabbed Cas by the shoulder, willing him to meet his eyes, “you’re not here to be our convenient transportation method, you’re here because you’re family and you need a damn vacation. And you can help in other ways. So get your stuff and walk your feathery ass over that gangplank and onto the ship.”

Cas didn’t reply, just nodded and picked up his luggage. Dean picked up his own, wondering for a split second what Cas had packed. He was still in his holy tax accountant getup, and the only time Dean had ever seen him wear anything different was during the short time he was human.

“Alright guys, see you back here in a week.” Sam gave them a wave as they turned to walk toward the ship.

* * *

 

After they boarded the ship and got their room keys, Dean left Cas to unpack his small bag into one of the drawers in their room and made his way to the bar to start asking around about the recent disappearances. He ordered a beer and made small talk with the bartender, trying to find a natural way to steer the conversation towards past cruises.

“So, how long you been a bartender on this ship?” he asked, after finishing his beer and ordering a second one. He was starting to wonder why Cas hadn’t wandered in yet, and he hoped he wasn’t holed up in their room watching tv.

“I’ve been on this ship for a couple of years,” the bartender answered. His nametag said his name was Joe.

“I’ve always been curious about haunted ships, like the Queen Mary,” Dean said, “my partner says there have been some stories about this ship. You know anything about that?”

“No, no ghosts on this ship.”

“So no weird cold spots, unexplained happenings, shadow people walking around?”

“Not that I’ve ever seen or heard about. Although…” Joe looked thoughtful for a moment, then picked up a glass and started drying it. “Nevermind, I shouldn’t mention it.”

“Mention what dude? You can’t say something like that then leave me hanging.”

“Well, we’re not supposed to talk about it, the company’s afraid it’ll affect sales. But there have been a few people who disappeared recently, off the boat without a trace. Happens right around the same coordinates every time, in the middle of the ocean. The company has tried passing it off as drunken passengers falling over on accident, but the press got a hold of some information and ran a story on it recently, and the company shareholders are starting to ask questions.”

“Well, that sounds interesting. Anyone smell sulfur when these people disappeared?”

“Sulfur? No. But people have heard weird sounds, like a squelching popping noise, and there was one witness who swears she saw a tentacle.”

“A tentacle? Like an octopus?”

“Yeah, but I think the girl was drunk or high and just seeing things.”

“Huh, yeah, probably.” Dean lifted his beer to take a sip. Tentacles were definitely weird. And had nothing to do with the ghost angle. Probably didn’t mean anything.

Dean set his glass down, about to ask who this witness was—might as well be thorough and talk to her if she was a crew member on board—when he saw a bright teal hawaiian shirt covered in pink flowers out of the corner of his eye.

_Wow_ , he thought, trying not to smirk. And then he looked up into bright blue eyes made all the bluer thanks to the shirt, and realized it was Cas.

“Hello, Dean,” Cas greeted him, and sat down on the bar stool next to him.

Dean was speechless, and he quickly pulled his mouth shut from where it had been hanging open, gawking. “Uh, hey Cas. Nice shirt.” Dean grinned, happy at least that Cas was out of the trench coat and into civilian clothes. Though he was definitely going to have to accompany him on any future shopping trips.

Cas looked down at the shirt as if he just noticed he was wearing it. “Oh, right, Sam told me I should get some Hawaiian style shirts to fit in better.”

“Yeah, good choice,” Dean tried not to laugh and hoped Cas wouldn’t be offended at his amusement.

“Is this your partner?” Joe the bartender asked, wiping down the bar and setting a coaster down in front of Cas.

“Uh, yeah, this is my… Cas,” Dean stuttered, “this is Cas.”

“Well, lucky you. Welcome to the ship’s bar Cas.” Joe smiled at Cas in a way that made Dean feel a pang of jealousy, which was weird. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Uh, I don’t—”

“He’ll have a pina colada.” Dean interrupted before Cas could say something weird about not drinking because everything tasted like molecules.

* * *

 

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Dean got tired of correcting everyone who assumed he and Cas were boyfriends and just let people assume what they wanted. Sam had booked them a room with only one bed (“Cas doesn’t need to sleep,” he had said), so of course all the ship’s crew thought they were sleeping together. And well, if that kept people like Joe the bartender from making eyes at his angel, then he was surprisingly ok with it. Dean wasn’t going to let himself think too hard about why he cared if other people flirted with Cas; he had a case to worry about.

After dinner in the dining room, where they had been forced to eat at a table with two other couples who wanted to know all about how they had met (Cas had actually answered with “Purgatory” and Dean had had to laugh and make a joke about it), Dean called Sam to find out where he was. He had just made it to the small town outside of Dallas where the Tanners were buried, and was going to wait for sun-down then head out to the cemetery. In the meantime, Dean decided to take a nap so he and Cas could patrol the decks that night, watching for dumb drunk people getting too close to balconies.

Or tentacles. Dean started laughing and Cas poked his head into their room from the balcony where he had been watching the sun set over the waves.

“What’s funny Dean?”

“Just a story the bartender told me,” Dean took a breath and subdued his laughter, “about a witness who thought she saw a tentacle reaching up over the side of the boat.”

“A tentacle.” Cas was looking at Dean like Dean was speaking gibberish. “Like an octopus, or a squid tentacle?”

“Yeah, exactly.” Dean giggled again, the thought of a giant sea creature grabbing people off a cruise ship was just so ridiculous, and Cas looked so confused.

“There are giant squids and octopus, even a colossal squid that can grow to a total length of about 45 feet,” Cas looked thoughtful as he walked inside and sat down on the bed next to where Dean was lying. “However, the tentacles would only be about a half of that length. They could maybe reach up to some of the lower deck balconies, but even if they could, why would they? Cephalopods are generally not aggressive. The Humboldt squid is an exception, but they’re only a few feet long, and they don’t live in these waters.”

“I don’t know Cas,” Dean rolled up onto one arm, keeping his face serious and leaning toward Cas, lowering his voice dramatically before continuing, “maybe we’re dealing with _the kraken_.”

Cas stared back at him in silence for a moment, scrunching his eyebrows together and fixing Dean with what appeared to be a worried look. “Dean. You do realize the kraken is a myth, a creature of legend that may have some base in reality thanks to things like giant squid, but ultimately a story. Not a real thing.”

“Cas,” Dean flopped back on the pillows with a groan, “you are no fun.”

“You know, Dean,” Cas turned and placed a hand on the bed on the other side of Dean’s stomach, leaning over Dean and trapping him with his gaze if not actually physically trapping him. Dean swallowed and froze. “I’m actually a lot more fun than you realize.”

“Uh…” Dean struggled to remember words, while Cas broke eye contact and dragged those baby blues down Dean’s body. If Dean didn’t know any better he’d swear Cas was undressing him with his eyes. Fortunately, Dean’s phone rang and saved him from making a fool out of himself and pulling Cas down into a kiss.

Unfortunately, the phone was in his back pocket and Dean lifted his hips to reach back and pull it out, unintentionally grinding his crotch against Cas’ side in the process. Dean fumbled the phone and scrambled to answer it before it stopped ringing. He didn’t even bother looking to see who it was. He was too distracted by the way Cas’ eyes, wild and full of more turbulence than the ocean waves crashing outside their tiny cabin, had narrowed and fixed on Dean’s, pinning him under a gaze full of curiosity… and was that heat?

“Dean!” A tinny voice called Dean back to reality, and he realized he had hit the answer button then completely forgotten to say anything to the person on the other end. He looked at the phone and saw that it was Sam.

“Uh, yeah, Sammy, I’m here.” Cas was still leaning over him, and Dean was having a really difficult time thinking with his upstairs brain. Part of him knew he should get Cas to move so he could put some space between them, but he found he didn’t really want to, so he stayed put.

“Everything ok?” Sam wanted to know.

“Yeah, fine. What about you? Any luck finding the graves?”

“Yeah, just found them. I’m gonna start digging now, so it’ll be a few hours. Just wanted to keep you updated and make sure everything was ok with you and Cas.”

“Me and Cas? Why wouldn’t things be ok with us?”

“Um, because you’re on a haunted ship with limited resources to fight any ghosts that might be trying to kill you?”

“Oh, right.” Dean was doing his best to keep his voice steady, but he could tell it was going huskier than usual. Cas was really having an effect on him. He hadn’t moved, but was alternating watching Dean’s lips as he spoke and looking back up into his eyes like he wanted something from Dean. Dean had a feeling he knew what that something was, though he was completely surprised that Cas seemed to want that from him. He needed to get Sam off the phone now. “We’re fine Sam, no sign of any ghosties yet. Just get those bones taken care of and call me when it’s done.”

“Alright, b—” It sounded like Sam was saying goodbye, but Dean had already hit the “end call” button and tossed the phone aside.

“Um, Cas?” Dean wasn’t sure what to say, but he knew doing what he wanted to do could really cause some damage if he wasn’t completely sure he had Cas’ consent first.

“Yes, Dean.”

It wasn’t a question. Dean wasn’t sure if Cas was giving him an answer to his unspoken question, or just acknowledging that he had one.

“Cas, do you—”

“I said yes, Dean,” Cas interrupted, then leaned down close enough that Dean could feel warm breath on his lips. He suddenly wanted nothing more than to feel Cas’ lips on his, and he reached up to grasp Cas’ head and pull him the rest of the way down. Their lips crashed together and Dean breathed Cas in, deepening the kiss and tasting salt from the ocean spray he’d been standing in earlier. Dean felt Cas melt into him from above, pressing their bodies together, and when he moaned into Dean’s mouth Dean could feel the rumble against his chest.

Dean felt like he was drowning and he never wanted to come up for air, but they were interrupted by a scream from somewhere outside. Cas pulled away and Dean sat up.

“Shit. Get the salt Cas, let’s go see what that is.” Leaving this room and Cas’ arms was the last thing Dean wanted to do right now, but they had a job to do—people to save, things to hunt, and he forced his brain into hunter mode. All they had to do was get through the next few hours till Sam had burned the bones, and then they’d have a whole week to explore this new development in their relationship. Dean grabbed the iron rods they had stashed in the linings of their luggage in order to sneak them onto the ship, and walked purposefully toward the door, glancing back to make sure Cas was following.

They made their way through the hallway, listening intently for another scream or any kind of commotion that could point them in the right direction. Dean cursed himself for getting distracted. He didn’t want some innocent person’s blood on his hands because he had been thinking with his downstairs brain.

“Any idea where that came from Cas?”

“It was difficult to tell since we heard it through our open door, but I believe it was on this deck toward the middle of the ship.”

Sure enough, as they walked down the hallway they they noticed a group of people standing outside a cabin about 30 feet away. Someone was sobbing, and people in the surrounding cabins were poking their heads out to see what was going on. Dean was glad he had thought to bring his FBI badge along, just in case. As they approached the group, he pulled it out of his shirt pocket and held it up. He nudged Cas and looked meaningfully at the badge he was holding up. Thankfully Cas caught on and reached into his pocket for his own FBI badge to hold up.

“FBI, what’s going on here?” He hoped nobody would notice the large iron rod he was carrying at his side.

“She almost got pulled overboard!” This came from a tall blond man holding a blanket around the shoulders of a sobbing woman. All Dean could see of her was light brown hair that spilled over the top edge of the blanket.

“Pulled? Not pushed? And she didn’t lean too far over the rail and start to lose her balance?” Dean asked, confused.

“Yes, I said pulled. I went inside our cabin to put on some music, and left her in the chair on the balcony. Next thing I know, she’s screaming and there’s something wrapped around her leg trying to pull her over the railing!”

“Ok, what was this something?” If this was the ghost, it didn’t seem to be playing it’s part like Dean expected. It should be pushing people over, or making them jump. Not pulling them from somewhere outside the railings.

“It was like some kind of giant tentacle, man. I know it sounds crazy, but that’s what it looked like.” The woman was shaking and sobbing, but she leaned over to pull the blanket she had wrapped around her away from her leg, and held it out, saying, “Look.”

The lower half of the woman’s leg was covered in red circles, about the size of the bottom of a beer bottle. Dean glanced back at Cas, who looked at him with a worried look on his face. Could this really be some kind of giant tentacle monster instead of a ghost?

“Do you mind if my partner and I take a look at your balcony?”

“No, go ahead,” the man answered. “Just be careful.”

Dean squeezed through the group of people and made his way into the small cabin, walking directly to the now closed door to the balcony. He got his flashlight out of his back pocket and turned it on, then pushed the door open and stepped out into the cool ocean air. The balcony was small, only about six feet by four, and he swept the entire space with the light quickly. There was nothing there.

“Dean,” Cas said from where he stood looking over the balcony rail, “it looks like there’s something in the water.”

Dean moved to stand next to Cas, and carefully leaned to look over the rail. He swept the flashlight over the surface of the dark, murky water about 10 feet beneath them but didn’t see anything. Cas reached for the flashlight, curling his hand over Dean’s to move the light to a point about 20 feet out from the boat. Dean narrowed his eyes, staring at the waves under the beam of light. He could just make out a large dark shape under the surface of the water. It was huge, longer than a school bus and just about as wide.

“What the fuck…” Dean started, but couldn’t find the words to continue. He was suddenly terrified, and it took a lot to scare Dean Winchester, hunter of vampires, and werewolves, and fucking demons. He had never seen a creature so large, and the fact that he couldn’t see more than a dark, nebulous shape under the water did not make him happy.

“I think we may be dealing with your kraken after all,” Cas said, gripping Dean’s arm and pulling him back from the balcony. Dean let himself be moved, but he didn’t take his light or his eyes off the shape in the water. Whatever it was, it was swimming fast enough to keep up with the cruise ship while it travelled at full speed. That meant it was fast, and strong to be able to keep its fast pace steady for so long.

“How the hell are we gonna kill that thing, Cas?”

“I don’t know, maybe we should call Sam and get his opinion.”

“Yeah, good idea.” Dean continued watching the water, reaching back to pull his phone out of his back pocket. He handed it to Cas, not wanting to pull his eyes away from the water for even the few seconds it would take to turn his phone screen on and hit the auto-dial button for Sam. Cas took the phone from him and dialed Sam, putting the phone on speaker.

After several rings, Sam finally picked up. “Dean? Everything ok?” Sam sounded out of breath, probably in the middle of digging.

“Sam, we have a problem,” Dean started, not sure how to explain what they were dealing with. He decided to just blurt it out. “It’s a fucking kraken.”

“A what?” Sam said with a laugh.

“A giant squid octopus thing, Sam, a kraken!”

“I know what a kraken is, Dean,” Sam continued laughing, “but those are just myths.”

“That’s what I told him,” Cas added unhelpfully. Dean glared at him.

“Cas, you’re looking at the damn thing. What else would you call it?”

“An overgrown cephalopod maybe.”

“Wait,” Sam’s voice interrupted, “are you being serious?”

“Serious as a fucking heart attack, Sam!” Dean was scared, so he channeled that fear into anger, yelling at the phone. “It’s bigger than a damn school bus, and left giant welts on a woman’s leg from trying to pull her into the ocean! Now put on your nerd hat and tell us how to kill this damn thing!”

“Whoa, ok, ok,” Sam said, placating Dean, “do you have a harpoon?”

“Of course not, Sammy! We had a hard enough time just trying to sneak a couple of iron rods onto this ship, and we thought we were dealing with a ghost, not a damn giant man eating cephala-whatever—”

“Cephalopod.”

“Yeah, what Cas said. Why the hell would we have brought a harpoon?”

“Dean!” Sam yelled through the phone, “Take a breath, man. I know you didn’t bring one, but can you find one on the ship?”

“I don’t know, this is a cruise ship, not a whaling ship.” Dean sighed. Some help sam was. “We’ll improvise. You get those bones salted and burned quick, so we don’t have two problems to deal with.”

“I’m on it. Be careful.” Dean heard the call disconnect, and Cas slid the phone back into Dean’s back pocket. Dean was about to ask Cas what the plan was; he didn’t want to leave this thing unwatched, when he heard to door to the hallway open and someone walked into the room.

“Gentlemen, would you please return to your room?” A woman in a white uniform wearing a typical ship’s captain style hat entered Dean’s peripheral vision.

“We’re FBI, and there’s something out there,” Dean answered, but made no movement to leave or stop watching the thing in the water.

“Sir, I appreciate that you want to help, but I’m the captain of this vessel and I’m asking you to please return to your room and stay indoors until my crew and I can deal with this. I can’t risk any more passengers getting hurt.”

The woman sounded serious, and Dean glanced at her quickly, noting the impassive look on her face. He could knock her out, but someone else would just come looking for her, and they’d end up getting locked in their room, unable to do anything.

“Dean,” Cas said, placing a hand on Dean’s shoulder, “I think it would be best if we do as the captain says and return to our room.” Dean met Cas’ eyes and saw his eyebrows raise and a subtle head nod. “We can’t do anything from here.”

“Maybe you’re right.” The two had worked together on hunts long enough that Dean could read Cas’ signals, and reluctantly he let Cas lead him back into the room.

Luckily the captain stayed on the balcony, turned toward the ocean, so Dean and Cas were able to surreptitiously pick up the iron rods they had set against the wall by the door. They didn’t need anyone finding them and questioning why two FBI agents were carrying something like that around on a cruise ship.

There was nobody in the hallway when they exited the room, and they made their way unimpeded back to their room. Once they were inside with the door closed, Cas turned to Dean. “It seems to be attracted to light. I was watching it swim back and forth, almost aimlessly, before I pointed it out to you and you shined your flashlight at it. Then it kept steady with the boat, and your light.”

“We might be able to lure it closer to our balcony. But how the hell are we going to kill it? Throw our iron rods at it?”

“We may have to try and lure it out of the water.”

Dean didn’t like the sound of that at all. But Cas had a point. They didn’t have weapons they could shoot it with (Dean really wished he had his Baby and her trunk full of weapons right now), so they needed to get into close range. That meant using someone as bait.

“Alright, we’re gonna need some rope.”

* * *

 

A short time later, Cas was wrapping Dean’s legs and ankles in rope, securing him to the balcony railing. Cas wasn’t happy about it, and Dean was too wary about what might be watching him from the water to joke about being tied up in the sexy way.

“Dean, I really think you should let me act as bait while you wait inside where it’s safe. I’m stronger than you, and I would have a better chance at staying on board if this overgrown cephalopod tries anything.”

“That’s exactly why I need you not acting as bait, Cas.” Dean had his flashlight on and was searching the waves for the dark mass he’d seen earlier. “If this thing grabs me, I need you here to keep me on the deck while I stab it in the face.”

“You do realize squids don’t exactly have a face, right?” Cas asked in a dry voice from down near Dean’s ankles.

“Well they have eyes don’t they? I’ll stab it in the eye.”

Dean heard Cas take a deep breath and slowly let it out before tugging on one last knot to make sure Dean was secure. He stood and raised a hand to Dean’s cheek, turning Dean to face him. “Please, just be careful Dean.”

Dean stared into Cas’ eyes and gave him a cocky grin, “I always am, Cas. Besides, I got you here to save me if anything happens.”

Cas rolled his eyes at Dean, but pulled him in for a kiss before letting go and fixing his eyes on the ocean in search of the creature. Dean turned to watch the water too, sweeping his flashlight slowly back and forth. He didn’t see anything, but after a few minutes, Cas straightened and pointed, saying, “There.”

Dean pointed his flashlight in the direction Cas was pointing and found it, only about 10 feet off the side of the ship. It was close, but not quite close enough.

“Time to go inside, Cas.” Dean moved the flashlight incrementally closer to the ship and himself, not sure if he was glad or about to lose control of his bodily functions when the thing followed the spot of light. Cas stepped back and waited just inside the door to their cabin.

It took another 20 minutes to get the thing to follow the light up to the side of the ship, and from this close, it was even bigger and scarier. Dean almost yelled to Cas to come outside, but he didn’t want to scare the thing away and risk it escaping and killing more innocent people. He shifted his feet a little wider to steady himself, then leaned out over the balcony and moved the flashlight up onto the side of the ship.

When the first glistening crimson tentacle emerged from the water to slap against the ship, Dean nearly shit himself. It gradually widened from the size of one of his fingers at the tip, to the size of his bicep at the point where it disappeared into the water. Another tentacle emerged, and then the creature began pulling itself up towards the light. It was out of the water far enough that Dean could see the tentacles at their largest point were bigger around than his thigh.

Dean was shaking, and took a breath to steady himself. He tried to focus on not dropping the flashlight as he slowly moved it closer to himself. This was probably one of the stupidest things he’d ever done, and Dean had done some pretty reckless things in the name of saving people and hunting things. He gripped the iron rod in his right hand, and raised it above the level of the balcony railing, ready to strike. The thing kept climbing, slapping a third tentacle onto the side of the ship to help pull itself higher. As it moved, Dean heard the squelching, popping sound of hundreds of suckers gripping, releasing, and sliding against the smooth surface.

“Cas, be ready,” Dean said in a low voice, not sure why he was trying to be quiet; the thing probably couldn’t even hear him. Did squid even have ears? Dean would have to ask Sammy or Cas about that later. Right now he needed to focus.

He watched the tentacles creeping incrementally closer, so focused on their slow, sticky slide that he was caught completely off guard when a fourth tentacle shot up out of the water and latched onto his left arm. The thing gripped him with its suckers and pulled.

“Shit!” Dean yelled, grimacing when he felt a sickening pop as his arm was dislocated from his shoulder.

“Dean—” Cas called frantically from the doorway.

“No, not yet! Stay there! Its eyes are still below the surface.”

Dean struggled to see past the stars now floating in his vision, ignoring the excruciating pain in his arm and shoulder. The balcony railing pressed painfully into his chest, making it hard to take a full breath, but Dean waited. He could see what looked like an eye just below the surface of the water, but he couldn’t be sure yet that he’d hit it from that far of a distance.

The pain in his arm increased as the tentacle gripping it squeezed and pulled harder. Dean started to worry that it might just pull his arm off, but then another tentacle shot up out of the water and wrapped around the balcony railing. Dean felt himself begin to hyperventilate as the creature used the new leverage to pull itself farther out of the water. He could see the huge eye, almost as big as the tires on the Impala, finally emerge from the waves.

Dean raised his right arm as far as he could, watching the unblinking eye get closer and closer. Finally, it was just a few feet away and Dean was just about to shove the iron rod down and into the black pupil when one of the tentacles unstuck from the side of the boat and shot up to wrap around his neck.

“Dean!” Cas was behind him in an instant, wrapping strong hands around the tentacle and trying to pull it off. Despite his angelic strength, Cas’s fingers scrabbled against it, unable to find purchase. He couldn’t get a good enough grip to move the slippery tentacle at all. Dean struggled to take in a breath, sure that he was about to be suffocated and crushed by a freaking kraken of all things.

His vision was starting to dim, and Cas’ voice was sounding farther and farther away. The last thing he felt was the iron rod being ripped out of his hand. Dean stopped struggling and lost consciousness.

* * *

 

Everything was warm and dark, and Dean felt like he was floating. Gentle waves cradled his body, rocking him and making him drowsy. If this was what dying felt like, it really wasn’t that bad of an experience. He wondered if he was on his way to heaven or hell, but he was so warm and comfortable that he really couldn’t bring himself to care either way.

Then a thought occurred to him. If he was dead and on his way to heaven, he’d never see Cas again. Cas was barred from entering heaven. Dean frowned, wondering if Cas would try to find him in hell again, if that was where he was going. Probably not, since his wings were damaged and he didn’t have the power of the Host backing him up anymore. So either way, being dead meant not seeing Cas, and that thought was more disturbing than not knowing where he was going.

Dean began to struggle, trying to push his way through the waves to make it back to the ship. If he had any chance of surviving and getting back to Cas, he had to try. Something was holding him down though; there was a pressure on his thighs and what felt like vise grips holding his arms. Dean struggled harder, trying to pull out of the creature’s grasp, when he thought he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

“Dean!”

The voice sounded far away, but it was getting closer, becoming clearer.

“Dean, stop!”

That was definitely Cas. Dean struggled to move towards the gravelly voice, desperate to find his angel again.

“Dean! Dammit, will you stop struggling?”

Why would Cas want him to stop struggling? Dean was confused. Something wasn’t right. His heart was pounding in his ears, and he forced his eyes open, looking around wildly, trying to find a point of reference in the darkness that surrounded him.

“Dean, I’m right here. Look at me.”

Dean turned towards Cas’ voice and raised his eyes. Cas’ face was directly above his, dark hair a riot of messy waves, blue eyes shining and wet, and scared. Dean locked onto them, not daring to look away for fear that they’d disappear and he’d realize he was actually under water or worse.

“Cas?” he croaked. Oddly, his throat didn’t hurt as it should have after being squeezed by a giant tentacle, but it felt rough like he hadn’t used it in a while.

“Yes, it’s me. Are you going to stop trying to destroy the bed and kill me in the process now?”

“What?” Dean stopped to take stock of his surroundings. His eyes were growing used to the lack of light, and he could just make out the details of the ship’s cabin surrounding him. He was in bed, safe. Cas was on top of him, his legs the pressure holding Dean’s thighs down and his hands gripping Dean’s wrists.

“You’re safe, Dean.” Cas leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to Dean’s forehead.

“How?”

“You passed out when I couldn’t get the tentacle off your neck, so I grabbed the rod out of your hand and stabbed the kraken in the eye a dozen times until it finally expired and slipped off into the water. I untied you and brought you inside, then healed you. You slept soundly all night, until something startled you and you began lashing out and I had to restrain you.”

Dean looked up into Cas’ beautiful blue eyes and smiled. His angel had saved him again. He was alive, and Cas was here, and the monster was dead. “Cas, you’re awesome.” Cas smiled over him and leaned his forehead against Dean’s. “Can I have my arms back though?”

“I don’t know, I kind of like holding you down this way.” Cas moved to press his lips to Dean’s, and Dean relaxed into his hold. He could handle being restrained a little bit longer if Cas was going to distract him with kisses.

* * *

 

Dean called Sam at first light the next morning and explained what had happened. Sam lectured Dean about being a dumbass for using himself as bait, but couldn’t think of any better way the situation could have been dealt with. After the lecture finally ended, Sam informed Dean that he had salted and burned the graves of the couple they had suspected of haunting the ship, so they shouldn’t have any ghosts to worry about.

Dean hung up the phone and walked out to the balcony to join Cas where he was seated watching the sun rise. He reached over for Cas’ hand and laced their fingers together, sighing contentedly as he leaned back and put his feet up on the balcony railing. They’d done their job, and now he had a few days of actual vacation with his angel. Dean looked over at Cas and smiled, determined to enjoy their time together and not worry about anything. Cas squeezed his hand and smiled back.

When Sam met them at the harbor in Florida at the end of the cruise, Dean wasn’t the least bit self-conscious about walking across the gangplank to meet him with his arm around Cas’ shoulders. Sam just smiled and hugged them both.

Life back at the bunker returned to normal. The boys kept busy with hunting plenty of land-based monsters and trying to track down Amara. Cas moved into Dean’s room and kept his Netflix binges to a socially acceptable level, usually when Dean suggested they watch a show together.

They had no idea that somewhere out in the deepest part of the ocean, something ancient stirred. They couldn’t have known that the creature they had called kraken and killed was merely a servant for something larger and more deadly. Something that didn’t get its regular meal delivery. Something hungry.


End file.
